Cold in July : Juillet de sang

It’s nicely shot and atmospheric, but after that “twist” I couldn’t believe anything. (11/08/2014)

An excellent 80s neo-retro-noir (the music!) that somewhat suffers from the strict and slavish "Cape Fear - 8mm - Peckinpah" division into thirds, which results in the loss of that initial consistent play on atmosphere, psychology and believable behaviour in the second half. (08/12/2014)

In the end, Cold in July turned out to be a very solid revenge thriller that culminates in a decent bloody inferno in the last 15 minutes, which assured me that the film in no way puts the subgenre to shame, quite the contrary. The engaging and original story only adds to it all:) I had fun even with the slow pace. 75% (10/08/2014)

A redneck thriller about family. A psychological study of a transformation of an average guy into a killer and also about an unusual relationship. Slow dosage of information and the not altogether straightforward story keeps the viewer in the dark and thrilled. It’s not easy to guess which direction this will head in. Excellent acting, great directing. Amazing soundtrack. (18/09/2014)

A bit of a retro flick, licked with the civility of Jack Reacher with music that sounds like Atticus Ross was bored at night and he recorded something so people wouldn’t complain. I didn't get much of a whiff of revenge, but I did get a whiff of a scripted, oddly conceived B-movie with an even odder plot twist in the middle, and quite predictable at that. There are a few well-crafted scenes, but otherwise it's a bland mess. The motivations of the characters are strange, the direction the story takes is hard to understand, and it is shifted by too many coincidences. (30/12/2015)

I have to say, this is the film that finally got me into Jim Mickle's work for real. His previous works are interesting, but the way he built the atmosphere here, wrote the characters, and let them be played by excellent actors, plus the somewhat unconventional use of the camera in some shots, and the gritty ending are all things that deserve attention. A very dark film where there is still some hope. (30/07/2014)